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                  <p class="p_Heading1"><span class="f_Heading1">Move Elements Within Diagrams</span></p>



  
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                <p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">Any one of the following options enables you to move an element within a diagram. Select an element or group of elements in the diagram view, then:</span></p>
<ul style="text-indent: 0px; margin-left: 30px; list-style-position: outside;">
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1">Use the mouse to drag the element to the required position (the cursor switches to the four-arrow icon as shown below)</span></li>
</ul>
<p class="p_TextIndentedL2"><img src="dragobject.png" width="227" height="205" border="0" alt="DragObject"></p>
<ul style="text-indent: 0px; margin-left: 30px; list-style-position: outside;">
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1">Hold down </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">[Shift]</span><span class="f_Bulletlist1"> and use the arrow keys to move the element by increments to the required position</span></li>
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1">Use the </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Left, Right, Up</span><span class="f_Bulletlist1"> and </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Down</span><span class="f_Bulletlist1"> options in the </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Element | Move</span><span class="f_Bulletlist1"> submenu</span></li>
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1">Align multiple elements using the </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Element | Alignment</span><span class="f_Bulletlist1"> submenu, the </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Alignment</span><span class="f_Bulletlist1"> options in the right-click context menu, or the </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Alignment </span><span class="f_Bulletlist1">buttons on the </span><span class="f_UIControl">Diagram</span><span class="f_Bulletlist1"> toolbar</span></li>
</ul>
<p class="p_TextIndentedL2"><img src="aligntoolbar.png" width="443" height="42" border="0" alt="AlignToolbar"></p>
<p class="p_SubHeadingL1"><span class="f_SubHeadingL1">Confirm Possible Parent Elements<a name="parent"></a></span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">As you organize the elements within a diagram, you can drag any element over another and, provided the dragged element is within and on top of the possible parent, it is always encapsulated by the lower element and moved within the lower element. However, the lower element might not be a valid parent.</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">You can confirm that a possible parent element is able to accept a selected child element. When you drag the child element over the potential parent, the target element border changes to a dashed line if it can accept the selected element as a child. If the border does not change, the selected element cannot be a child to the target element.</span></p>
<p class="p_TextIndentedL2"><img src="parentdashedborder.png" width="227" height="193" border="0" alt="ParentDashedBorder"></p>
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<td valign="bottom" width="952" bgcolor="#efeff7" style="width:952px; background-color:#efeff7;"><p class="p_TiporNote" style="border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none;"><span class="f_TiporNote">Notes:</span></p>
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<td width="952" bgcolor="#f7f7ff" style="width:952px; background-color:#f7f7ff;"><ul style="text-indent: 0px; margin-left: 14px; list-style-position: outside;">
<li><span class="f_TiporNoteText">The </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Support for Composite Objects</span><span class="f_TiporNoteText"> checkbox must be selected on the </span><span class="f_UIControl"><a href="objectappearance.htm">Objects</a></span><span class="f_TiporNoteText"> page of the </span><span class="f_UIControl">Options</span><span class="f_TiporNoteText"> dialog (select the </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Tools | Options | Objects</span><span class="f_TiporNoteText"> option). If this option is not selected, the dashed border does not show and the child element cannot be embedded on the parent in the diagram.</span></li>
<li><span class="f_TiporNoteText">Both elements must already exist on the diagram; an element border does not change if you drag a potential child element over it from the </span><span class="f_UIControl">Toolbox</span><span class="f_TiporNoteText"> or </span><span class="f_UIControl">Project Browser</span><span class="f_TiporNoteText">.</span></li>
<li><span class="f_TiporNoteText">The child element must have equal or higher z-order placement than the parent; that is, the parent element must be level with or behind the child.</span></li>
<li><span class="f_TiporNoteText">The child element borders must be completely within the parent element borders.</span></li>
</ul>
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<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">For example, if you drag a Signal over a Class, the Class border changes; a Class element can be a parent to a Signal. If you drag a Class element over a Signal element, the Signal border does not change. A Signal cannot be a parent to a Class.</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">When you embed a child element on its parent, the child element becomes part of the parent element hierarchy in the </span><span class="f_UIControl">Project Browser</span><span class="f_BodyText">. Similarly, if you drag the child element out of the parent, the child element becomes independent and is no longer embedded in the parent element hierarchy.</span></p>




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